Besilient wheel



patented Augyzz, 1916.'

,. 3' SHEETS-SHEET 2. I

l 5 f. MEAD.

REsrufNT WHEELI APPLICATION FILED OCT- 7 i915.

)UNITED STATES PATENT oEEioE.

v FRANCIS MEAD, OF CHICGO, I'LLINOIS.

EESILIEiv'J.1 WHEEL. i

l Specification of Letters Patent. V:[)rljgeniierd Allg. 22, 1916-'Applicaton filed October 7, 1915. Serial o. 54,478.

use the same.

1, My invention relates to resilient wheels for vehicles and moreparticularly lto the class of such wheels having resilient vcush- 15ionsdnterposed between relatively movable inner and outer rims orfellies. y One general object of my invention is that ofy providing aconstruction affording great resiliency with relatively little wear onthe cushioning elements, and one in which the 4stresses due to arelativev circumferential movement of the rims are distributed throughthe whole of each Acushioning ele-` .f-ment. j

eifective cushioning means to care tor side strains upon the wheel (suchas those due to skiddin'g), also to prevent such side strains fromunduly wearing thescushioning elements and `from causing objectionablenoises. Still another object l"is to provide means for preventing theentrance of dirt, rain, snow,etc.,`into the space in which the cush.ioningelements are housed, and to prevent these mud-excluding means frominterfering with the relative radial, lateral and ci'r- A cumferentialmotion of the wheel rims.

i A further object is to provide cushioning,

'V-elements suitable for use in a 'wheel construction of the classdescribed, which will offer an unusual elasticity and of such shape asto afford substantially a maximum of elasticity wheg litted between therims of thevwheel.

Still further objects'will appear from the r-ollowing specification andfrom the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an elevation of awheel embodying my invention, with portions cut away to disclose a partof the interior construc-` tion. Fig. 2 vis an enlarged transversesection through the rimk of the wheel and a part of yone of the spokes.Fig. 3 is a fragment.. :y similar section with the wheel under sidestrain. Fig. 4 is a ragmentary section of the wheel laken along the line4-4 of Fig.

2. F igs. .f3 and G are :fragmentary viewsA` `the art to whichv itappertains'to make and .Another object is to provide simple'and showingtwo different arrangements ofthe thrust partitions-engaging the ends ofthe cushioning elements. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view showing one of thecushioning elements-at the top of va lightly loaded wheel when thelatter is standing still. Fig.- 8 is a similar view taken wheg'thelwheelis-in motion. Fig. 9 is a similar lview of one of the lower cushioningelements. Fig. 10`is an elevation of a cushioning element when loose.Fig. 11 is a view of the same as it appears when bent into position.

While my invention maymbe applied with substantially equall facility towheels of widely varying materials and constructions, it is particularlyapplicableoto wheels having wooden spokes and carrying treads upondemountablel rims, and is shown 1n a cor-v responding embodiment in someof the drawings. Thus, in 1,*.thelhub of the Wheel supports spokes 2caii'yingan inner rim or felly 3, whichrinr is 'banded by asteel y ring4.' Encircling theV said rim 3 at some distance therefrom, andpreferably wider than the inner rim 3, is an outer rim 5 which carriestires 6 itted into demountable rim elements 16 of any desired-types.Secured to oppositesides of the outer rim V5,('preferably by thesamebolts 17 whiclfsecure the demountable tire members in place) are sideflanges 7, each o-which projects radially inward of thewheel beyond theinner rim 3, and which flanges have oiset. portions'8 bearing againsteach other and bolted to each other between the spokes 2 of thewheel (asshown in Fig. 4). Adjacent to each spoke, each of these side'flanges isequipped with a recessed formation r,9, the opposed formations upon thetwo anges combining to form short tubes loosely housing portions of thespokes. 'Clamped to each of these ltubes and also suitably secured tothe adj acent spoke -.(as for example, by being clamped over al spacingtube 19 as in Fig.2) is .a iiexibl'e tube or culi l0, which iexibleelement forms a closure. for the opening between tlie spoke and theadjacent tube 9.

" Secured alternately to the inner and outer rims inA circumferentialsuccession, and projecting radially of the wheel for part of thedistance between the said rims are thrust partitions 11 and l2, theformer being preferably welded to the steel ring i4, which ring alsocarries a ,centrally disposed and radially center partition ring oneofthe side fianges, and bounded atitsends' by the radial thrustpartitions 11 and 12,. are' cushioning elements lamade of rubberorotherresilient material. Each' of the .cushions 14 is preferably widerthan the width of the ring 4 laterally of the center artition 13, andnormally engages both sai partition 13 and one of the side flanges'',thereby keepigfthis Han e spaced laterally from the inner rim 3.A houldthe wheel be subjected to a side strain tending to move the inner rimlaterally with respect to the outer rim (as in case the wheel skids on awet street), one of the two cushions dis osed at opposite sides ofthecenter partition 13 will be compressed .as in Fig. 3, during therelative lateral movement of -the rims. To prevent the other-cushionfrom being, simultaneously slid in the same direction in which the firstnamed cushion was compressed, I preferably interlock it with a formationdisposed circumferentially of the wheel upon the ring 4, suchas a raisedring. 15. I also preferably make each cushion 14 of such a resiliencythat the maximuln lateral compression due to normally i encountered sidestrains upon the-wheel will not suffice to bring the adjacent sideflange into contact with the inner rim, thus avoiding a noisy slammingor pounding action when the wheel is in service.

While the cushions 14 may vary' greatly in design and material, Ipreferably so shape them that they `will offer substantially `equalresiliency in all directions when fitted into a loose wheel, that is tosay, a wheel carrying no load. To accpmplish this with a minimum of`delayin the fitting and with no waste of the" expensive rubber, Ipreferably mold each cushion in a substantially prismatic form havingone longitudinal face suliciently longer than the opposite face tocompensate for the difference in the lengths ofthe ,arcs in which thesefaces are nor in flexing the cushion y faces. lloweveig'owing to thedifference in radius, the length of the lower arc of Fig. 11corresponding `to radial ends will be less thanthat of the upper arc,hence an additional length of the upper face will berequired to affordthe desired disposition of the ends. I therefore preferably mold eachcushioningr block with a suitably enlarged outer face as shown in Fig.10, thereby enabling this cushion to exactly lill the space for the samewithout disproportionate strains upon any portion of it, and therebyalso enabling each cushionto offer a substantially e' ual resiliency'inall directions.

' I also pre erably provide each of these cushions with a plurality oflateral recesses` at each side, whichl recesses reduce the amount ofmaterial along the axis of the cushion and hence permit the cushionmoreeasily to adapt itself to the changes in size` and form demanded by theaction upon the cushion when at different points in the travel of theWheel. For example, with the wheel standing still, the inner rim willnormally compressthe lower cushions to move the axis of this rim belowthe axis of the outer rim, thus increasing the distance between theuppermost portions of the two rings. V Conl sequently,

the resiliency of the cushioning block in tending to straightenthisublock may cause the latter to engage the rims only for a slightdistance near each of the respective abutments 11 and 12, as in Fig, 7..However, if the wheel is set in motion, the tendency of one rim to lagbehind the other will cause the said abutments to move toward eachother, thereby compressing the cushion ci-rcumferentially and henceexpanding the same radially of the wheel as-in Fig.` 8, the result beingthat both the inner andouter faces of the cushion offer a greatlyextended amount of surfaces in contact with the adjacent rims. At thesame time, the cushions at the bottom of the wheel will b'e subjectlowering of the axis of the inner rim, and to4 the circumferentialcompression due to Aboth to the radial compression due to the thelagging of one rim behind the other,

thus forcing the entire inner and outer surfaces into contact with therim members of the wheel. Consequently, since the cushions subject tothe greater driving strains auto'- matically are forced in to 'moreextensive frictional contact with the rim members,

only asmall part of the drivingis transmit! vted through the thrust ofthe radial partitions or abutmentsand the slipping of the `cushions onthe rims is to be practically negligible both as a source of heat and ofwear. However, while I have described the cushions of my wheel asinterposed between abutments secured alternately to theinner and `outerrim members, I do not Wish to be limited to the use of a single pair ofsuch radial partitions in connection with each cushioning element, sinceit might be equally desirable under some conditions to have a pair ofsuchpartitions at each end of each cushion as shown in Fig. 6. Neitherdo I wish to be limited to the use of spacer busliings 19 between thespokes and the dirt-excluding tubes 10, nor to other of the detailsherein disclosed, it being obvious that the construction might bemodified in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention.i

' ianges carried by the outer of saidmrims out of contact with theaforesaid rim, said flanges laterally respectively engaging theprojecting portions of the resilient memers.

2. In` a Vehicle wheel, the combination with an inner and an outer rim,of side flanges on one of the rims radially overlapping but laterallyspaced from the other rim, a central annular web on the last named rimprojecting toward the rim carrying the flanges, and a pair of resilier tmembers disposed between said rims, each of said'members bearing againstsaid web and having an integral portion projecting laterally beyond therim having the web, said'nintegral portion nornfally contacting with oneof `the side flanges but adapted to be moved out of its said contactingrelation by a relative lateral movement of the rims in one direction. ,l

3. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with -inner and outer rimsequipped with radiai'ly disposed projections secured alter.

nately to the inner and outer rims and extending partly acrossthe spacetherebe.

tween, of resilient members disposed in Said A' space and respectivelyabutting at their ends I. against consecutive projections, each of saidVmembers eomprlsing a normally rectilmear prismatic cushionl having onelongitudinal face thereof longer thanthe'opposite face. Y

4, In a `vehicle wheel, the combination withl relatively movable innerand outer rims separated by an annular hspace, of a plural. ity ofradially'ended resilient elements-dis?- posed in annular formation insaid space and each bent from a normally rectilinear prismatic form; theouter and inner faces of each element being Irespectively substantiallyequally extended and compressed during chebending, and the outer facebeing normally longer than the inner face so as to compensate for thedifference in the lengths of the arcs in which said faces are curved.

5. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with relatively movable inner andlouter rims, of side flanges carried byone of said rims vand radiallyoverlapping the other thereof, cushioning elements disposed in theannular space between said rims and side flanges, said elements vbeingarranged substantially in two ringsl encircling the inner rim and edisposed laterally of each other, spacer means carriedby-one of the rimsfor spacing the elements comprising the two the last named rim and theelements of each ring for preventing a relative lateral sliding thereofin one direction.

6. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with relatively movable inner andouter rims, of side flanges carried by one`0f said rims and radiallyoverlapping -the other thereof, cushioning elements disposed in theannular space between sald rims and' side ring for limiting ythemovement of the last named ring in the same direction.

7. Ina vehicle wheel, the combination with an inner rim having afcentralperipheral web and a paia` of peripheral rings at opposite sides of saidweb, of an outer rim, side flanges fast upon the outer rim and eX-tending radially inward therefrom and radially overlapping but laterallyspaced from ile inner rim, and resilient elements rings, andauxiliarymeans associated with .85 lwith the said overlapped rim and theother disposed in two annular formations between said rims and allnormally contacting with said web, the elements of each annularformation being interlocked with one of said peripheral rings to.prevent their sliding in one'lateral direction upon said-inner rim.

8. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with' an inner and an outer rim,of an annular resilient member' disposed therebetween and projecting atone side' beyond the edge of one of said` rims, the last named rimmember being equipped with formations respectively engaging the oppositeside of the resilient member and an intermediate portion of the latterfor preventing a lateral ymovement of the resilient member with respectto said rim.

FRANCIS MEAD. y

